Christmas with the Charmingstiltskins
by Teddy R. Lupin
Summary: "How can you be so...'eh' about this?" she asked him, mirroring his position and staring right back at him, though she was still as stiff, and clearly worried, as before. "What if your father tries to kill Regina over dessert?" Neal Cassidy and Emma Swan spend Christmas with their family. Swanfire, Snowing, Rumbelle. Neal's point of view.


**My first ****_Once Upon a Time_**** fanfic! (Will most likely be my only.) This started as a drabble, and then grew. It'll likely be five chapters or so, taking place on Christmas Eve. I know it's a few months early for Christmas, but believe it or not, I've started my holiday shopping (you save so much money if you shop early), and this appeared. Also from a prompt. **

**From Nealfire's point of view. **

o0o0o0o

To most of the world, the cozy town of Storybrooke, Maine was your average American small town. Of course, that would mean that most of the world knew about Storybrooke in the first place, while they most certainly did not. To Neal Cassidy, Storybrooke was home. He hadn't called many places home - the small hut he shared with his father as a child, the backseat of a certain yellow bug, an apartment in Manhattan - and he strongly suspected that he was only beginning to learn what the true meaning of 'home' was. Home was wherever his family was...and for the longest time he had drifted, losing the definition of family along the way. It was only after he had found himself falling in love that he'd been stricken with a severe wake-up call. One that had caused more than one broken heart.

Eleven years later, and the ex-thief was living in a certain run-down apartment complex in Manhattan, New York, his room filled with crap he didn't have a need for, engaged to a woman he had fooled himself into loving. She had soon turned on him anyway, leaving him with a broken heart and a bullet wound of which he would always bear the scar. But for that broken heart, it had healed, and it had become stronger for it. While he had lived in the Land Without Magic long enough to not be fooled by false inclinations, Neal Cassidy was quite sure that Emma Swan was his true love. And that was why, he recalled, he currently had a diamond ring concealed in his sock drawer.

It was probably the most terrifying prospect he had ever faced, but he was going to do it. He was going to propose to the love of his life, the mother of his son.

"Mmph," he heard from beside him, and he couldn't help but to smile briefly, leaning over to press his lips lightly to a ray of golden hair. How was it possible that every moment he fell more in love with this woman?

"Morning," he murmured, nuzzling his nose against her neck, pressing light kisses to every inch of skin he could reach. He could've stayed in bed with her all day, Neal was quite sure, and he was just as positive that Emma wouldn't deny him that. Unfortunately, he remembered with an internal grimace, the day had other plans.

"Whattimizzit?" mumbled the half-asleep blonde, who hadn't quite managed to open her eyes yet. Neal smiled fondly, tucking locks of hair behind her ears, easily understanding her sleepy slurs and translating them into the more manageable 'What time is it?'

He hummed noncommittally, unwilling to bring their morning to a sharp and unpleasant halt. Pressing one last kiss to her hair, he flopped back onto the bed. "Just past eight."

That did it.

Emma's eyes opened just like that, her body shooting out of the bed as a cannonball would from a cannon. Meeting her frantic gaze, Neal simply smiled lazily, unfazed, tugging on her hand to drag her back to bed. "Don't _worry_, Em! We have time."

As soon as he was assured that she really _wasn't_ going anywhere (not that he was giving her much of a choice in the matter), he reclined, his face burrowing halfway into his pillow as he stared at her, unblinking. This wasn't just any day, and Neal probably understood her worries more than anything. It was their first Christmas - not only as a couple, but their first as an actual family. It was the first Christmas Neal got to spend with his son, Henry, and it was the first time Emma would be able to spend the holidays with her parents. They had gotten through Thanksgiving dinner quite well, considering the complications between Neal and his father, but this time, they were the ones hosting. And while they were determined to make this work, they were both just as sceptical as the other.

"How can you be so...'eh' about this?" she asked him, mirroring his position and staring right back at him, though she was still as stiff, and clearly worried, as before. "What if your father tries to kill Regina over dessert?"

Neal's lips turned slightly upwards into an odd sort of smile, as if it was something that certainly wasn't out of the realm of possibility. After all, they were old rivals. And with magic brought into the mix, the son of Rumplestiltskin certainly had no trouble imagining his father transfiguring the Evil Queen into...say...a bowl of mashed potatoes. He made a face, and vowed to stay away from the potatoes.

Shifting onto his back, he sighed and cleared his throat, eyes directed at the ceiling. "Look, this family has more problems than most, I'm not gonna deny that," he said slowly, "Right? But this whole thing...it means a lot to Henry, so we gotta get through it for him."

That seemed to calm Emma's nerves, at least - they both knew that spending Christmas with a more confusing family tree than anyone else's wasn't their idea of fun. Neal had spent the last eleven Christmases at a bar, drinking himself into a coma and wishing more than anything that he hadn't been too cowardly, wishing hope against hope that he would ever see her again. And now they were sharing a bed. Maybe his luck was finally turning around.

And really, he thought he had more to be worried about. Tonight, with the entire family watching, he had made the decision to commit, to offer her everything. To offer _himself_ in every way imaginable, more so than he already had. He had promised never to leave or abandon her again, and tonight he would be giving her irrefutable proof, in the shape of a diamond ring. While he knew, realistically, that she wouldn't say _no_...hell, they had promised each other, he couldn't help but to feel a little jittery. Emma was the same as him in many ways...they both had difficulty seeing worth in themselves. He hoped that tonight, at least, she would be able to see what she meant to him.

Looking over, he cast a smile at her, to receive an equally wide one in return. Reaching his hand under the blankets covering them, Neal found her hand and squeezed it, his arm travelling upwards and sliding around her back as he pulled her closer. This was what they called a 'perfect moment,' he thought to himself, as he finally leaned in. Emma's neck stretched, and they were millimetres from their lips touching when Neal found himself being summoned.

"Daaaaaad!"

Groaning, Neal fell back onto his pillow, scrubbing his face with his hands. The moment was broken.

o0o0o0o

**That's the first chapter. I know it's rather short, but I felt it best to stop it there. I'll most likely update every two weeks. I know that's a bit of a long wait, but I'm a very lazy person, and every other Sunday I have a class where I have absolutely no internet and an hour for my lunch. I will start it then, and finish it once I get home.**

**I hope it's alright, anyway. I've tried my best to stay true to the characters.**

**Cheers!**


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